Rebirth
by Desertbird
Summary: Trudy is given a second chance. Rewritten .  F/F


I own nothing!

I'm not sure where I am. I have never been the type to believe in heaven, not like I would ever make it there if it did exist. The last I remember is that missal heading straight for me. The flames. Jake's voice over the Comm. Falling below the tree line. Fire burning my flesh. The pain in my lungs as I suffocated. The impact of the ground. I'm not sure what truly was my last moment before blacking out. Before coming here.

I feel life around me, like standing still as a stampede of wild animals rushes past you, feeling the vibrations through the earth. Yet, no ground could be felt. I wouldn't say everything was black, nor any other color…everything just was. I guess the closest one could describe would be similar to a half-awake state right before falling into a dream.

A faint, internal voice calls to me. –Trudy- The voice didn't even have a pitch, there was nothing audible about it.

-What!- I tried to speak, but realized I had no mouth, no body, to produce the sounds.

-Calm yourself, my child-

-Eywa?- I don't know why I asked it, I already knew it was her. Memories of Grace talking to Jake about Eywa filled my thoughts, conversations that held my interest only briefly. I regret not learning more.

-Where's Grace?- I asked without even directing my thoughts.

-Grace is with us-

-So I really am dead.- The truth felt heavy, and thoughts of Amber flooded my mind, thoughts of never returning home to see the family I had come out to Pandora in order to support.

-For now.-

-What?- Was this a joke? Did I understand that right? -What do you mean by that?-

-You risked and lost everything to save the People. You knew none of the People, and even when hope was lost, you stuck with us. For this, you will be offered another chance of life.-

A feeling of excitement rushed though my consciousness, but halted shortly. -But my body was destroyed from the-

-The body is only a vessel.- She cut off my toughts. -This vessel holds the spirit before the spirit returns back to me. A young Omatikaya and returned, leaving her body empty. If you choose, I will put your spirit into this vessel and you shall finish your mortal life as Omatikaya.-

-What about Grace?- I asked, -Why wasn't she offered this?-

-She was.- The answer came slowly, -She chose to not accept the offer. And now it is your turn to choose; do you wish to be Omatikaya?-

-...yes-

-Oel ngati kameie, Ean Hufwe, si oe ting nga tire.-

Everything faded away.

000

"Trudy?" The familiar voice rang out. Jake.

"Hey tiger," His face started to come into view.

"She lives," a thick female voice came from somewhere. I tried to look around but everything was still distorted from the brightness above me. I realized it was a tree, and the source of the light came from cord-like vines that hung like a willow.

I gathered up a small sum of strength and pushed myself off the grassy soil, into a slouched, but upright position. I looked down and saw my blue skin shimmering under the eery glow of the tree. I was naked, save for the few tiny flowers that were embedded into the braids that hung down my brow and face. My feet dug into the soil, stopping at a sharp stone. I pressed gently and the side of my foot drew a small amount of dark red blood. The sting from the tiny exposure of flesh felt good. It felt mortal.

My spine felt longer. It felt more flexible. With a small movement in my lower back, my arm was brushed with what felt like a slick snake with a tuff of hair. I turned my head in the direction of the movement, and focused my eyes on it. A tail.

"One life down," I muttered under my breath, smiling about the thought of my old calico cat that I adopted while in college.

"Nìwotx tìrey 'aw." I turned and saw an elderly woman of the Clan looking back at me. Had she heard me? I suppose I should be surprised if she hadn't. "I am Mo'at," she said slowly with her thick accent, "I am the voice of the spirits of the Omatikaya clan."

"I'm Trudy," I smiled, "Combat pilot." I made a half-assed salute.

Mo'at turned to a young female, who I recognized as the one Jake keeps talking about...Netri? Nateera? They spoke briefly in Na'vi. The girl then turned to me and helped me to my feet. After a few moments, I found my balance, and then was led away from the tree. It was then that I noticed there were many Na'vi surrounding the tree, all watching.

"I am Neytiri." The girl's voice came through the dark silhouette that I was following.

"Neytiri." I repeated, hoping that I wouldn't forget it again.

She led me into the shadows, and towards a large cave mouth coming out of the bottom of the cliff. A single torch marked the entrance. Inside, patterns of minerals in the walls of the cave glowed in the darkness, illuminating the pathway. The cave opened to a large cavern with other tunnels attached to it. I think I wouldn't be too far off to guess that the entire cave was a myriad of mazes and tunnels.

Neytiri led me to a cot of fibers and told me to sleep. I sat down on the makeshift bed, and looked around at room, watching the children of the Clan sleep and watching the adults come back one by one, finding their own little nests and settling in for the night.

000

"I've been dead for an entire cycle? It literally felt like only a few minutes." I kept my eyes on the creature under the surface of the water as we sat on the bank of the stream. It looked like a large eel with no eyes, mouth or gills, but it wasn't segmented like an earthworm. It did, however, have catfish-like feelers and a split tail at the tip. I'm guessing it was about ten feet long and about as thick as a human's thigh. I figured that it was harmless when Jake dipped his feet in the water right above it, brushing it lightly with his blue toes.

"Just over a cycle, so on Earth, that would be..."

"About 3 months." 3 months. I wonder what they are going to tell Amber. That I am a traitor, a murderer. What will she tell Justin? Maybe the military wont mention me at all, put me in the furthest reaches of their minds, pretend it didn't happen; one of their own turning and open-firing on them. I could see them trying to hide that, especially from the other troops. It could lead to more people sticking up for what they believe. I smiled at the thought.

I turned to Jake. His eyes were much wiser than when I had seen him last. I guess that can happen when you go through all he has.

"So what happens now?" I ask.

"Neytiri will help you learn the language and culture once you are feeling strong again."

The thought of being a student felt belittling at best, but I nodded.

"The water is very clear today," he abruptly changed the subject, as if just noticing the eel-like creature beneath the suspended dead tree that we sat upon, tips of our feet just breaking into the surface of the water.

"Aye," I chuckled. As he looked into the water, I slowly reached my hand around his back, and as he leaned forward, I prepared to push him in.

**SPLASH**

I looked up just in time to see the disturbance of the water surface where someone dove in from the other side of the bank. Jake also watched intently as the air bubbles dissipated and revealed the body of a female Na'vi swimming under the surface, right towards the creature below us. The creature, even without eyes, knew something was approaching, probably from those feeler-like whiskers. Though it was about the length of a grown Na'vi, it apparently decided to not stick around to see what the female wanted. With a graceful turn it headed downstream, blurring as it left until you could see nothing of it.

"That's Xian," Jake pointed to the girl as she surfaced. Her eyes caught ours before she turned and swam to the other bank, where a very young male Na'vi cheered for her. "And that's Inen, her little brother. They were both sired by a descendent of the toruk makto before me, like Neytiri..."

**SPLASH**

"You talk to much," I yelled out as Jake's head came up, spitting out water and gasping for breath.

He gave me that cocky marine smile and grabbed my ankle. As he pulled, I twisted over onto my hands and used my other foot to splash more water into his face. My attempt at escaping him failed and I slipped right on top of him. The water was like ice.

Familiar eyes met us as we reached the surface.

"Xian?" I asked.

Her blank stare held a hint of surprise for a moment. I looked back at where I last saw her, how did she get there so fast without us seeing her?

She looked at Jake, "Po tsun ke plltxe?"

I could tell Jake listened to the words carefully. He shook his head, "Po nume ta Neytiri."

She turned to me, "Si nìwin." She paused. "Neytiri has enough worries," her English was slow and broken, "I will teach her." Now I understood.

Jake nodded, "If you truly want to, irayo."

She dropped her hand to me, motioning for me to take it. I did, and she pulled me up to the dead tree, enough so that I could pull the rest of my body up onto it. Jake had already started swimming to the other side of the bank.

Xian met my eyes, "we start now." Turning, she walked down the dead tree and into the brush. I followed.

-000Chapter 2 coming soon000-

Prase glossary

Oel ngati kameie, Ean Hufwe, si oe ting nga tire: I see you, Blue Wind, and I give you life

Nìwotx tìrey 'aw: All life is one

Po tsun ke plltxe?: She can't speak?

Po nume ta Neytiri: She will learn from Neytiri.

Si nìwin: make haste (be quick about it)

Irayo: thank you


End file.
